2014 SLA Baseball Caucus Readers' Choice Award winner from the Special
Libraries Association
The Deadball Era (1901-1920) is a baseball fan's dream. Hope and
despair, innocence and cynicism, and levity and hostility blended then
to create an air of excitement, anticipation, and concern for all who
entered the confines of a major league ballpark. Cheating for the sake
of victory earned respect, corrupt ballplayers fixed games with
impunity, and violence plagued the sport. Spectators stormed the field
to attack players and umpires, ballplayers charged the stands to pummel
hecklers, and physical battles between opposing clubs occurred regularly
in a phenomenon known as "rowdyism."
At the same time, endearing practices infused baseball with
lightheartedness, kindness, and laughter. Fans ran onto the field with
baskets of flowers, loving cups, diamond jewelry, gold watches, and cash
for their favorite players in the middle of games. Ballplayers
volunteered for "benefit contests" to aid fellow big leaguers and the
country in times of need. "Joke games" reduced sport to pure theater as
outfielders intentionally dropped fly balls, infielders happily booted
easy grounders, hurlers tossed soft pitches over the middle of the
plate, and umpires ignored the rules. Winning meant nothing, amusement
meant everything, and league officials looked the other way.
Mark Halfon looks at life in the major leagues in the early 1900s, the
careers of John McGraw, Ty Cobb, and Walter Johnson, and the events that
brought about the end of the Deadball Era. He highlights the strategies,
underhanded tactics, and bitter battles that defined this storied time
in baseball history, while providing detailed insights into the players
and teams involved in bringing to a conclusion this remarkable period in
baseball history.
Purchase the audio edition.
